Anxieties of Divine Representation in the Pre-Modern World

Representing the gods in tangible form is a charged creative act. This panel seeks investigations of art historical periods that are shaped by the challenges, and at times, the anxieties of crafting divine images. We seek to explore cases in which the image takes a distinct form (anthropomorphic or otherwise) and in which the responses from patrons, makers, and/or viewers in specific historical contexts from the pre-modern world can be considered. Whether we investigate aniconism in South Asian Buddhist reliefs, the philosophical critiques of divine images in Mediterranean antiquity, the rituals ‘denying’ the act of making a cult statue from Mesopotamia, or the moments when anthropomorphic representation of divine figures has been avoided or minimized, we seek papers that consider these historical junctures generative and productive for a comparative panel. By focusing on the cases in which the act of making an image is closely interrogated and theologically charged, we hope to learn much more about the act of representation itself.

Possible themes include:

• Negation of the anthropomorphic body (aniconism)
• Role of materials in divine representation
• Relationship between divine images and the natural world
• Symbolic or otherwise non-human depictions
• Visualizations of sacred places
• Replication, relics, authenticity of images
• Architectural settings and contextual interpretation
• Viewing and the diversity of possible responses to representations

The Chairs of this panel were trained respectively in ancient Mediterranean and South Asian art. We welcome submissions from within these fields, but look forward especially to receiving papers from beyond these specializations.